Rumination
by Mana6
Summary: T'Pol helps Archer relax after the events of "The Co-Genitor" Spoilers for Co-Genitor


TITLE: Rumination   
AUTHOR: Mana  
RATING: PG (one "bad" word)  
KEYWORDS: Archer/T'Pol   
SPOILERS: The Co-Genitor   
SUMMARY: T'Pol helps Archer cope after the events of "The Co-Genitor"   
AUTHORS NOTES: This is only my second ENT fic.please be gentle.   
FEEDBACK: Yes please. Feedback feeds the authors soul.  
T'Pol stared into the small flame from the candle in front of her as she breathed in deeply, trying to center her thoughts. The past 3 days had been quite quiet and tedious without Captain Archer present on board. He had gone with the Vissian captain, in the solar ship, and to be completely honest, T'Pol had not been to thrilled with the idea of him going away for 3 days, much less into the fiery unknown of the super giant.   
A short chime drew T'Pol's attention away from the meditation candle and towards the door to her quarters. She rose gracefully from her position on the floor and made her way over to the door. The door opened revealing Ensign Ray, the youngest science officer on board.   
"Sorry to disturb your meditation, Sub-Commander. I just wanted to drop off these data reports you had me go over before I went off duty." She said her face smiling.   
  
T'Pol looked down at the rows of numbers and explanations on the padd in her hands. Good work.  
"Thank you, Ensign. This seems quiet efficient. It didn't take you very long." T'Pol said looking the young woman in the eyes.   
"It wasn't very hard. Besides, there wasn't much else to do, what with the captain actually getting an up close and personal look at the star." Ensign Ray shrugged.  
"Well, it looks like good work. Thank you again." T'Pol dismissed the Ensign.   
"Thank you, ma'am." Ensign Ray turned to walk away, only to be almost run over by a dazed Captain Archer.   
"Excuse me, Ensign." He apologized and hurried down the hall, casting a small glance at T'Pol.   
Ensign Ray turned to look at T'Pol. "What's wrong with him?" She asked, brushing her red hair out of her green eyes.   
"I'm not sure." T'Pol stated, her eyebrow rose.  
Turning back to the Ensign, T'Pol dismissed her once more, with a slight nod of her head. She closed the door and went over to her candle and sat down. Closing her eyes, she tried once again to relax, but the image of Captain Archer rushing down the hall, and the worried and sad look in his eyes, wouldn't leave her mind.  
Standing once more, she made her way out of her room and headed toward the captains ready room, where she was almost certain she would find him.   
As she stepped on the bridge, she noticed several crew members cast glances her way and she looked down at her attire. She was wearing her traditional Vulcan robes, and was suddenly aware that not many of the crew had been privy to this style of clothing on her before. Glancing at the aforementioned crewmembers, she raised her eyebrow and made her way to the small door leading to the hallway to the captain's ready room.   
She placed her hand on the door opener and the door swished open.   
As soon as she stepped inside, she was knocked to the side by Commander Tucker. He looked up at her, startled to see her there. His eyes were red and rimmed with tears, and his body posture was that of a man that had just lost his best friend.  
"I'm sorry, Sub-Commander, I didn't see you there." He said, trying to not look her in the eyes.  
"It is alright. Are you feeling well Commander?" She asked and looked at him suspiciously.  
Clearing his throat, he stood up straighter. "Uh, yea. I'm okay." He said and hurried out the door.  
After the door had closed behind him, T'Pol leaned against the wall. The brief wash of emotion that had overcome her when the Commander had bumped into her, had been of intense pain, and weariness. Taking a deep breath, T'Pol rang the chime for the captain's ready room.  
After waiting a few seconds with no response, she rang it once more. Still getting no response, she opened the door and let herself in.  
Captain Archer was standing over by the view port, his head leaning against the cool glass.   
"Captain?" She said, letting him know she was there. "You know, when someone rings a chime and the person inside the room doesn't tell them to come in, it usually means that they want to be left alone." He said, turning to face her.   
"It is also only polite to answer when someone chimes the bell, even if you don't want their company. Besides, for all I knew, you could have been lying in here dying unable to speak. I don't think you would wish for me to wait for you to clarify that I could come in if that were the case." She stated.   
"Point taken." He said and moved towards her.   
"Are you alright?" She asked. "Commander Tucker just tried to run me over in the hallway, and you seemed a little...out of it when you ran into Ensign Ray outside of my quarters.   
Archer sighed, and ran his hands over his hair and down his face. He rubbed his temples and finally rested his head in his hands, as he leaned up against his desk.   
T'Pol was suddenly overcome with the need to reach out to him, but held herself back. He looked so vulnerable, so spent, standing there against his desk. She took a few tentative steps towards him.  
"Johnathan?" She asked, quietly.   
At the sound of his first name falling from her lips, he looked up at her from behind his hands. She took another step towards him. Dropping his hands from his face, he bit his bottom lip and heaved a great sigh.  
"The Co genitor is dead." He stated and looked her straight in the eye.   
She raised both her brows, signaling him to go on.   
"She.It.whatever the hell it was, committed suicide. Killed itself, and it wouldn't have if we had never made first contact with them. I can't help thinking this is my fault." He shook his head and looked away from her penetrating gaze.   
"It was not your fault." She said, trying to ease his pain.   
Taking another step closer to him, she noticed they were almost touching.  
He looked back at her eyes and felt himself being pulled in. He had never noticed how little she blinked until he fell into her gaze. The heat flared between them and threatened to draw them closer and over the precipice that stood between them. Suddenly he blinked and looked down, self conscious of himself.  
His brow furrowed as he took in her outfit.   
"Were you meditating?" He asked and looked back into her eyes.  
"Yes." She said, not stating that fact that her thoughts had wandered to him instead of her mediation. "I was meditating, when Ensign Ray dropped by to give me the data she had gone over for me. That's when you ran into her."  
"And you came to see how the crazy ole' captain was doing?" He smiled slightly.   
"Something like that." She raised her eyebrow a few centimeters.   
He laughed at that, but then raised his hand to his temple and started to massage.   
"Do you have a headache?" She asked.  
"Something like that." He cast her a small smile that turned more into a grimace than a grin.   
"Perhaps you need to relax. I know something that would help you."  
"Oh really? And what would that be." He tried to leer, but wasn't successful.  
"Yes. Meditation." She said, tamping down on the feeling to smile.  
"Oh." His downtrodden expression almost broke her battle.  
"Would you like to join me in my nightly meditation? It is quite soothing."   
He seemed to evaluate her offer then stood up straight.  
"Alright. I'm game." He said, and followed her to her quarters.  
The room seemed to be alive with shadows as the candles flame danced in the air of T'Pol's quarters. The spicy scent of something he couldn't recognize wafted into Johnathan's nose and he fought the urge to sneeze. After the initial reaction of the scent was over, he found that he enjoyed the aroma and took a deep breath in.  
T'Pol was watching his every move. He was sitting directly across from her on the floor, his legs folded and crossed in what humans referred to as "Indian style." She watched as his eyes slipped shut and he took a deep breath in. She had told him what to do when they first sat down, and as usual, he went along with it by himself. He visibly seemed to relax as the incense she had burning, attacked his olfactory nerves.   
Satisfied that he was doing alright in his attempts, she allowed her eyes to slip shut and she concentrated on her breathing. After what seemed like an eternity she opened her eyes, to find Jonathan staring at her, a wondrous look in his eyes.  
She blinked and raised her eyebrows, a twinkle in her eyes. "How long have you been watching me?"  
"Not nearly long enough." He said and put a hand against the wall to help himself up so he could stand.   
She quickly rose from her seated position, not worrying about having to have assistance. He gave her a look that said "Showoff" at her ease in standing.  
"Are you leaving?" She asked as he made his way to her door.  
"Yes. It's quite late. I need to go get some sleep." He said and she looked at the clock on the computer console.   
"You're quite right. It is late. Did the mediation help?" She asked and walked to him, stopping right beside him.  
"Actually it did. A lot. Thank you." He said, nodding his head.   
"Well then it did its job." They were both silent for a moment when finally he brought his hand up to rest against her cheek. She was slightly taken aback, but didn't flinch from his touch.  
"Thank you, T'Pol, for everything." He said and then turned and left the room.   
The door swished shut after him and she stared at it for a long moment. The emotions that had rushed through her had been overpowering: anger, love, betrayal, but most of all sadness, a sadness so vast, and encompassing, over the outcome of this last mission. She couldn't fight the wealth of tears that threatened to over take her.   
Leaning over to blow out the candle, she closed her eyes, and a single tear slipped down her cheek.  
  
THE END 


End file.
